A Kitchen of Ice and Fire

Sunday, October 5, 2014

Tyrion looked pointedly at his right hand. "Why, I have steel in my hand, Ser Alliser, although it appears to be a crab fork. Shall we duel?" He hopped up on his chair and began poking at Thorne's chest with the tiny fork. Roars of laughter filled the tower room. Bits of crab flew from the Lord Commander's mouth as he began to gasp and choke. Even his raven joined in, cawing loudly from above the window. "Duel! Duel! Duel!" Ser Alliser Thorne walked from the room so stiffly it looked as though he had a dagger up his butt. Mormont was still gasping for breath. Tyrion pounded him on the back. "To the victor goes the spoils," he called out. "I claim Thorne's share of the crabs."

Crab legs are one of the easiest things to cook. Seriously.

Ingredients:
3 bottles lager beer (I used Narraganset...because...well...it sounded nautical)
3 lemons, cut in half (plus extra for serving)
1 large head garlic, cut in half
1/2 tsp black pepper
1/2 tsp paprika
1 tsp sea salt
1/4 tsp cayenne pepper
Note: this is a minimum recommendation to reflect the sparseness of the Wall. Add more to taste.
(or you can just use old bay for all of the above if you don't mind using pre-made seasonings)
3lbs Alaska King Crab Legs, split
1 stick butter, melted

Directions:

Add beer, lemons, garlic, and seasoning to a very large stock pot then bring to a boil. Add crab legs then place a lid on top and cook for 4 minutes (it’s ok if lid doesn’t shut all the way.) Remove meat from shells then serve with butter.

You can also make a delightful dry rub "dip" by mixing the aforementioned seasonings to taste. Delicious.

Sunday, September 28, 2014

Greetings, gentle readers. Apparently there are quite a few of you. My deepest apologies for the hiatus. Babies were born (highborn, not baseborn, of course) jobs were changed etc. etc.

I hope to get back into regular cooking and blogging mode and as a token of good faith, I give you "Night's Watch Stew." I'm skipping the first stew reference, as I am plum out of squirrel. (OK, that's a lie, there are like 10 of them in my yard as I type...but I don't feel like eating them.)

(Edit: wow..it really HAS been a while...I did a king's road stew, sans squirrel)

Inside, the hall was immense and drafty, even with
a fire roaring in its great hearth. Crows nested in the timbers of its
lofty ceiling. Jon heard their cries overhead as he accepted a bowl of
stew and a heel of black bread from the day's cooks. Grenn and Toad and
some of the others were seated at the bench nearest the warmth, laughing
and cursing each other in rough voices. Jon eyed them thoughtfully for a
moment. Then he chose a spot at the far end of the hall, well away from
the other diners.

Tyrion Lannister sat across from him, sniffing at
the stew suspiciously. "Barley, onion, carrot," he muttered. "Someone
should tell the cooks that turnip isn't a meat."

Add
barley, oregano, and pepper to pot. Cover and let simmer for 1 hour. Uncover and bring to a boil. Cook for another 50 minutes, stirring occasionally. Add carrots and turnips. Reduce to low heat and simmer, covered, for another 30 minutes.

Uncover and bring to a boil and cook for another 10 minutes or until turnips are tender.

Sunday, October 20, 2013

Yoren sat on a stone, skinning a squirrel. The savory smell of stew
filled Tyrion's nostrils. He dragged himself over to where his man
Morrec was tending the stewpot. Wordlessly, Morrec handed him the ladle.
Tyrion tasted and handed it back. "More pepper," he said.

Deeply sorry for the prolonged absence. We've had lots of changes here at the kitchen. New babies, new jobs, new states.

However, it is fall now, and fall means stew.

I envisioned this to be a simple easy stew that the men of the Night's Watch could scrabble together from things found in their travels, and perhaps a few provisions tithed by Winterfell. I'm not much for eating squirrel, so I used beef. However, a closer parallel would be rabbit. Still, the stew was tasty!

Ingredients:

3tbs lard, grease or other cooking oil.

1 onion peeled and chopped

3 cloves of garlic chopped

1 sprig fresh rosemary, chopped

1 sprig fresh thyme, chopped

2lbs stew meat cubed

salt to taste

1/2 tsp black pepper (or more if you are cooking for Tyrion)

2tbs flour

1 cup sweet red wine (I used Marsala)

1lb butternut squash cut into cubes (or potato, or sweet potato, or whatever else the Night's Watch may have found growing on their trail)

Thursday, July 19, 2012

I have been horribly neglectful, but I hope this recipe is worth it! It's another variant on the Dothraki blood pie. This one is more of a pie...though it feels somewhat too "western" for a Dothraki dish.

You will need:

2 lbs cubed "horse" (I used lamb)floursalt to tastepepper to taste

1 tbs cardamon

1 tbs cumin

6 cloves of garlic crushedolive oil2lbs fresh mushrooms, sliced1 large sweet onion1/2 cup blood (I harvested mine from all the lamb I've used so far)hot water

Mix all the dry ingredients. Then cut in the butter with a pastry cutter. Add water slowly until the dough forms into a coarse, moldable dough. If it's too crumbly add more water.

Once your dough is "right" form it into 2 balls. Take each ball and flatten, fold, and reflatten with your hands to make "layers" for a flaky crust. Do this about 6 times, then take the flattened disk and put in a cool place. (you should have 2 disks)

Now for the meat!

Coat
the steak in flour, spices, salt and pepper. Sear the meat in about 1/2 cup of olive oil. You only want to brown it, not cook it. Remove from pan and
place on a plate.Leave
the oil and drippings in the pan, and sauté the onions and mushrooms.
Wisk 3tbl of flour in 12 oz of hot water, until all lumps are
dissolved. Pour slowly into the pan with the onions and mushrooms,
stirring constantly. Add the blood. Let the mixture come to a boil.
Continue stirring. Once the sauce thickens, reduce the heat to a simmer and add the meat. Simmer over very low heat for about 30
minutes.

While it simmers, roll out your two pie crusts. Line a pie tin with one. Pour
meat into the pie pan, cover with the top pie crust and seal well. Cut holes
in top crust to vent. Back at 350degrees 30-40 minutes until the pie
crust is fully cooked.

Monday, July 2, 2012

This will be first in a 2 part series on "blood pies". The first recipe borrows heavily from the Mongolian HuuShuur, a handy, portable meat pie good for a nomadic people.

For dough:

21/4 cups wheat flour

1/2 teaspoon salt

3/4 cup warm water

1tsp black pepper

you can use white or all purpose but the dough will be elastic and more difficult to manage.

For filling and frying;

4 garlic cloves

1 pound ground lamb. Do not use a lean cut, the fat will keep the filling moist and help ensure thorough cooking.

1 cup minced onion

2 scallions, minced

1 tbs ginger

salt and pepper to taste

1 tbs Corriander

1tbs cumin

1/4 cup water

6 to 8 cups cooking oil

Make dough:
Stir together flour pepper and salt, then stir in warm water
until a dough forms. Transfer to a floured surface and knead briefly.
Form into 16 (1 1/2-inch) balls. Let stand, covered with an inverted
large bowl, at room temperature 1 to 2 hours. If your dough is "wrong" use more flour or water as needed.

Make filling while dough stands:
Mince and mash garlic to a paste with 1 1/2 teaspoons
salt and the spices, then stir together with lamb, onion, scallions, and
water in a bowl.

Form and fry pies:

Roll out 1 ball of dough into a 3- to 4-inch round on a
floured surface with a floured rolling pin. Put about 2 tablespoons
filling to one side on round, flattening filling slightly, and fold
other half over it to
form a half-moon. Press edges together to seal, forcing out air.
Starting at one end of curve, fold edge over in triangles (each
fold should overlap previous one), pressing as you go and pressing last
fold under (this will help seal). Repeat with remaining dough and
filling.

It is EXTREMELY important that you seal these well or the leaking lamb fat will cause explosions of epic proportions.

Saturday, June 30, 2012

As soon as I read "joints of meat" I immediately recalled "ouzi", a delicious lamb dish made for feasts and special occasions. For large gatherings, and entire lamb will be roasted, but more commonly it's the leg or shoulder so...joints!

It's not really lamb season so the butcher did not have any bone in legs, or shoulders, so I made do with boneless, but for a proper meat joint presentation, you would want those bones.

2 shoulder's of lamb,or one leg (If you want to go REALLY authentic dothraki, use goat)

2 tsp cinnamon

1 tsp cloves

1 tsp cumin

1 tsp cardamom

salt and pepper to taste

4 tbs olive oil

1 onion, cut into 8ths

6 cloves of garlic sliced

FOR THE RICE:

2 1/2 c basmati rice(soak at least 30 mins before cooking)

1 onion, chopped

3 tbs oil

1 lb ground lamb

salt and pepper to taste

2 tbs cinnamon

1 tsp nutmeg

1 tsp ground cloves

4 1/4 c lamb or chicken stock

1/2 c almonds, sliced and toasted

1/3 c pine nuts toasted

1/2 cup pistachios

Preheat oven to 425. Rub
the spices all over your lamb with the oil. Place in a roasting
pan and put into oven.

After 20 minutes take your pan
from the oven and transfer to a dutch oven. cover the lamb with 1-2 cups of water, add onion and garlic. place back into the oven on 300 F, cooking
for 2.5 hours for rare, 3 hours for medium or 3.5 hours for well. I like rare.

When the lamb has an hour left start your rice. In a sauce pan fry the onion with 2 tbs of oil. Add the
ground lamb and cook. Add the rest of your spices, stir well and add
rice.

Pour in the boiling stock, mix well and simmer covered for
10-20 mins until rice is tender, add more stock if it becomes dry. Drain
and place on plate then add your lamb on top decorating the top with
the nuts.Serve the broth from the pan for dipping, and the onions as a side. NOMNOMNOM!

Tuesday, June 26, 2012

Sweet grass stew, you say? That can mean only one thing! (And this is one of the few vegan friendly recipes this blog will ever have!)

4 stalks lemongrass

1 tbs olive oil

1/2 cup chopped sweet onion

1 1/4 tsp salt

1 tsp ginger

1 tsp cinnamon

1 tsp cardamom

1/2 tsp pepper

2 sweet potatoes peeled and chopped

3 carrots chopped

2 cups mushrooms (I used baby portabellas because they were handy, and sliced them, but enoki would be awesome!)

3 cups vegetable broth

1 cup water

1 cup snap peas

13.5 oz of coconut milk

1/4 cup cilantro, chopped

First, "dress" the lemon grass. Peel the hard outer layers and cut off the dry green tips. Take the soft white bases and crush with a knife. Enjoy the delicious aroma of sweet, sweet, lemon grass. In fact, rub some on your wrists, just for fun!

Heat the olive oil and saute the grass and onion for 3 minutes. Add the spices and saute for another 2-3 minutes. Then add the remaining veggies.

Yes... I picked this sweet potato because it looked just like a Kamakura cookie!

Cook for another 2 minutes, then add the broth and water. Bring to a boil, then reduce heat and simmer for 25 minutes.

Remove the lemongrass...or don't. I didn't. However, when eating the soup, be careful not to eat the lemongrass. It won't kill you put it's not pleasant to nom.

Add the peas and the coconut milk. Cook 3 more minutes, then add the cilantro and serve.